oddly enough

oddly enough

106-year-old Mass. man gets high-school diploma

BEVERLY, Mass.

Fred Butler was married for 65 years, raised five children, served in the Army during World War II and worked for years for the local water department, but the fact he never earned a high-school diploma always bothered him.

Not anymore.

The 106-year-old was awarded his honorary diploma Monday during an emotional ceremony attended by school officials, state lawmakers and Beverly Mayor Bill Scanlon.

“I thank everybody who is responsible for this,” he said, wearing a mortar-board hat and tassel and holding the prized document in his hands. “I certainly appreciate it.”

Butler dropped out of school before the ninth grade to accept a full-time job at a print shop to support his mother and five younger siblings.

Missing Pennsylvania church pipe organ found; all forgiven

PITTSBURGH

A Pittsburgh Roman Catholic church says the mystery of its missing pipe organ has been solved.

Police said Monday the church’s former organist confessed he removed it last week for safekeeping.

Worshippers had struggled to understand how and why anyone would take the massive 200-pipe instrument from St. Justin’s, which closed last month after merging with another church.

Authorities say the organist had a key to the building in the city’s Mount Washington neighborhood and was worried the organ would be damaged by the cold of winter.

The church’s pastor, Father Michael Stumpf, says taking the organ was an imprudent and terrible mistake but not a criminal one, so the church is choosing to forgive and not press charges.

W. Pa. motorists wrongly getting Philly tickets

INDUSTRY, Pa.

Two western Pennsylvania motorists say the long arm of the law turned out to be the wrong arm of the law.

The motorists tell KDKA-TV they’ve recently received tickets from the Philadelphia Parking Authority even though neither has ever been to the city. Ida Weekley, of Industry, called the station after seeing a report on a Munhall woman who also wrongly received a Philadelphia parking ticket.

The tickets apparently were issued mistakenly by someone who got the wrong license plate number off an illegally parked car. When the station called the parking authority, officials there determined that Doreen Simeone of Munhall got a ticket because someone mistook the “X” on her license plate for a “Y.”

Simeone’s ticket was for $106. Weekley says her husband has gotten 14 tickets totaling $1,309.

Associated Press